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With game one just about five hours away as I start whacking my keyboard I figured I’d throw together a few random thoughts heading into what is sure to be a challenging series;

Chris Sale, First Time Out - 0, 2, 1, 0, 3, 2, 4, 2, 4, 6, 3, 0, 0, 7…those are the runs allowed by Sale facing his opponents for the first time this year. Obviously that is skewed heavily towards the early part of the year but the idea that a great pitcher might keep an opponent in knots is not that outrageous. ...

You’ll definitely find better previews elsewhere (and feel free to link them here), but as is now tradition I will type up a quick preview based solely on my limited exposure to the Nats this year and their bb-ref page.

Starting with the lineup, what jumps out at you is how balanced it is. They have a great offense - 3rd in NL in BA, 5th in OBP, and 1st in SLG - led by a couple of huge bats. The middle of the lineup - Harper, Rendon, Murphy, Zimmerman - in whatever order is about as ...

A combination of time and a farm system that is not nearly as interesting as it has been in recent years has kept me from talking much about the minors this year. With the regular season over I thought I’d take a quick gander at the system with a look at a few interesting players;

1B - Josh Ockimey - Salem/Portland - The 21 year old (22 in two weeks) had a strong season with 43 extra base hits. He also maintained gains in plate discipline that he showed in Greenville last year. Ockimey has ...

The ALDS begins Thursday for the Red Sox. After a season of renoobulation and a secret workout that makes Tom Brady look like Tom Arnold, the Crazy Fan-Boy Projection System is in the best shape of its life. What better test of its fitness than to have it project the ALDS? Let’s see what it says.

For the first time in club history the Sox have notched consecutive division titles. It was not easy but they got it wrapped up in game 161 in style with Craig Kimbrel sealing the deal for Drew Pomeranz and Co. These are the kinds of years that remind me how tough winning a division title is. The Sox went into the season as solid favorites; the Jays were going to regress, the Rays weren’t that good, the Orioles didn’t have the pitching and the Yankees were a year away. The Sox then went out ...

After MLB and the MLBPA agreed on a new Basic Agreement for 2017 to 2021 we had a lot of discussion on this site about what was in it. Each time, we wanted to look at the CBA to understand the actual provisions so we could answer a few questions about whatever was in the press releases. For months it has been unavailable.

Today I happened to find it published on the MLBPA site. I’m adding no analysis; I’m putting this here in case anyone wishes to bookmark it, study it, or discuss it. ...Read More...

Getting an early jump on this now that the clinch is behind us. Almost everything is purely speculation, since Joe hasn’t said much yet. Any thoughts or updates can be posted here up until the roster is finalized sometime next week.

For 2008 each voter should rank the top 15 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 4 October 2017.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 3 October 2017.

Sox Therapy: Panic on the Streets of Boston, Panic on the Streets of Arlington

So much for the idea of a relaxing week of baseball. A division title that looked wrapped up 60 hours ago suddenly looks, or at least feels, dicey at best. So how much should the Sox fans be panicking?

The case against panic;

- The lead is still three games and despite two ugly games the Sox have been excellent for awhile now. At 15-8 the Sox have been playing great baseball in September and you can push that back to the trade deadline where they have the second best record in the AL. ...